Global scholars to attend conference at UB exploring media’s effects on morality

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Some of the world’s leading researchers working at the intersection of media and morality will be at the University at Buffalo from April 11-13 for this year’s Moral Media Conference.

The conference opens with a reception for attendees on April 11 at the Terrace at Delaware Park. That will be followed by two full-day sessions beginning at 8:15 a.m. in 120 Clemens on the university’s North Campus. Registration is closed, but those interested in attending can contact the conference organizers.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the university’s Office of International Education, the Department of Communication, and the Media Psychology & Morality Lab.

The schedule is available online.

Now in its eighth year, the annual event attracts scholars in a range of disciplines − such as media psychology, cognitive science, communication, psychology, and sociology − interested in media portrayals of morality and how these portrayals affect media consumers’ social relationships.

This year’s conference features presentations from four keynote speakers:

• Helena Bilandzic, PhD, professor of media effects and processes at the University of Augsburg, an expert in narrative experience and persuasion.
• Morteza Dehghani, PhD, professor of psychology and computer science at University of Southern California, who studies how extreme forms of moral worldviews can lead to prejudice, violence and hate.
• Allison Eden, associate professor of communication at Michigan State University, who published research that centers on understanding media enjoyment, particularly the role enjoyment plays in attention to and selection of media content, and more broadly the effects of entertainment on user behavior and well-being.
• Frederic Hopp, assistant professor of big data in psychology at the Leibniz Institute for Psychology, who primarily investigates how morality permeates human communication and how moralized messages are cognitively processed and motivate behavior.

“People often ask why put media and morality together,” says Lindsay Hahn, PhD, assistant professor of communication in the UB College of Arts and Sciences and one of the conference’s co-organizers, along with two colleagues in the Department of Communication, professors Melanie Green, PhD, and Arthur Raney, PhD.

“The reason is that we consume media socially. Media influences, to some degree, who we are, which influences what types of media we select,” says Hahn. “Given this social process, it becomes necessary to understand how this phenomenon is taking shape and the ways media in which media help bring us together or how it might drive us apart.”

Through the years, the conference has grown considerably, from a small working group to an event that has contributed, through scientific inquiry, to advancements in the area of media and morality.

In addition to its multidisciplinary approach to exploring morality, organizers also expanded the conference’s scope from previous conferences, which looked at these questions within the context of the U.S., to adding an international component that explores media and morality in a global context.

“I’m excited by this conference, which is bringing together scholars from 23 institutions across six countries discussing advancements in media and morality research,” says Hahn. “It’s going to be a productive weekend.”